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Increase Your Prayers' Power by Praying with Others

Whitney HoplerLive It Editor

200420 Jul

COMMENTS

God has promised to be present when two or more people gather in His name. And, since His Holy Spirit lives inside those who walk with Him, the power of your prayers increases exponentially when you pray with others.

Here are some ways you can unleash greater spiritual power by praying with other people:

Find a prayer partner. Ask God to bring one or more regular prayer partners into your life for a season. Consider friends, family members, neighbors, coworkers, and any others that God might bring to mind. Don’t be discouraged if someone turns you down; keep trying until you find the right person (or people). Have the courage to be completely honest with your prayer partner about your own struggles so he or she will know how to pray for you. Make sure you choose a partner (or partners) whom you consider trustworthy. In addition to your regularly scheduled prayer times, take advantage of opportunities to pray with others on the spur of the moment as prayer concerns arise.

Join a prayer group. Look for a prayer group that meets regularly and join so you can contribute and receive vital prayer support. Your local church can probably recommend prayer groups that meet in members’ homes. Or, you may want to start your own group. If so, decide where you can host it, how many people you want to participate, how often you want to meet, how long the meeting will be, and who will be involved. Make sure that everyone in your group agrees on the basic, foundational truths of the faith (such as who God is) and believes in God’s power and willingness to answer prayer.

Ask each member to be clear and specific when expressing prayer requests so everyone can understand what they are. Then determine how you want to pray so the group can be in unity. Remember that you should always pray for requests to align with God’s will. Make sure that your group’s ultimate desire is seeing God’s will fulfilled. Have a plan for your meetings and try to stick with it, making sure that no one person dominates the conversation or makes the meetings run late. Stress the importance of confidentiality, and don’t allow prayer requests to degenerate into gossip.

Pray with others in church. Understand that worship is a form of prayer. Make worshipping God a top priority when you’re in the presence of your church family. Remember that you are a part of the greater body of Christ. View yourself as a tool for God’s work within His family on earth, and a conduit through which His love can flow to others. Realize that it’s impossible to grow to your fullest potential independently of other believers; you need them as much as they need you. Don’t let denominational, racial, cultural, or economic differences divide you and other people with Christ’s body. Instead, proactively reach out to them, so you can worship, pray, and serve together from time to time. Meet to intercede for your community together, praying about specific concerns in your local area.

Pray for your nation. Commit to stand in the gap between God’s righteousness and human failure in your nation, humbling yourself to confess the sins that have kept your country from following God’s will. Intercede for your fellow citizens, asking God to activate the power of the Cross in their lives and in all situations that affect your country as a whole. Pray for God to guide and strengthen your national leaders and those who support them (like leaders in state and local governments). Ask God to use you somehow to help bring your nation under the reign of His power. Consider joining a national prayer initiative in which you can keep informed of specific prayer needs via mail or the Internet and pray along with others throughout your nation.

Pray for the world. Know that your prayers are not diluted simply because you’re praying for a situation that’s far away from you, because God is always near to hear and answer. Believe that you can change the world through your prayers, by participating in what God is doing on earth. Start out small, by choosing a particular place or group of people or situation with which you’re familiar. Then focus your prayers on that. Consider joining a global prayer initiative so you can keep informed of specific prayer needs via mail or the Internet and pray along with others throughout the world.

Adapted from The Power of Praying Together, copyright 2003 by Stormie Omartian with Jack Hayford. Published by Harvest House Publishers, Eugene, OR.www.harvesthousepublishers.com.

Stormie Omartian is the bestselling author ofThe Power of Praying series of books (more than five million copies sold), and Just Enough Light for the Step I’m On. Stormie and her husband, Michael, have been married for 30 years and have three grown children.

Jack Hayford is the Chancellor of The King’s College and Seminary in Los Angeles. A pastor, author, and songwriter, Jack has been married to his wife, Anna, for 49 years. They have four children and 11 grandchildren.